Oh I'm sure. There were plenty of times where the canals were frozen for a week or two. But the myth that we use them go to work and visit our families in neighboring villages during the harsh winter months is a myth. These days having organized skating competitions on natural ice is a rare thing. To be cherished.

Norway has had a couple of DISASTROUS days now, and the chance of becoming the best nation is now practically nill. Something has gone wrong for our favourites in the preparations for the Olympics. Extremely disappointing.

Oh I'm sure. There were plenty of times where the canals were frozen for a week or two. But the myth that we use them go to work and visit our families in neighboring villages during the harsh winter months is a myth. These days having organized skating competitions on natural ice is a rare thing. To be cherished.

Global warming I guess.

"Hans Brinker And The Silver Skates" (my childhood notion of skating in the Netherlands) refers back to 19th century winters = much colder.

I used to skate on rivers in the US back in the 1960's, but there wasn't much of that available til this latest Illinois winter.